I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately that read as follows:
“Please support HB 3515, the updated Bottle Bill. It has been the most successful recycling program in the Commonwealth. Over 30 billion containers have been recycled since it became law in 1983.
We now need to update the Bottle Bill to include all the kinds of containers that didn’t exist when this law passed 25 years ago. I hope you will support it.”
Yes! In fact, I am a cosponsor of the bottle bill. The bill would expand the requirement to make a deposit for purchased bottles to water bottles and other bottles that are not currently covered. We should do a better job recycling those bottles. For those of us living in the MWRA district — all of my towns are in the district — it’s usually a bad call to buy bottled water anyway; we have some of the best water in the world coming out of our taps.
If you’d like to speak out on the bottle bill, you can, at the public hearing to be held in front of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, October 7th in Room A-1.
For more on the bottle bill, see:
http://www.massbottlebill.org/ubb/index.htm
This is a site created by the MA Sierra Club which gives facts about the bill. It also gives industry arguments against the bill refuted by facts as well as ways for people to get involved.
http://www.sierraclubmass.org/index.html
The Sierra Club’s main website. The Bottle Bill is the main story on the front page, it links to the same information in the website above.
http://www.bottlebill.org/legislation/campaigns/massachusettsc.htm
This site gives a brief description and some details of the 2009 campaign. It also has links to some press releases and other resource
The more we can do to promote recycling the better. I think it’s pretty bizarre that water bottles were never covered – a completely clean bottle that can just be idly thrown away makes no sense to me.